Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs steps into diagnostics with Binx Health

Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug company, which provides access to affordable medication, has partnered with healthcare technology and diagnostics company, Binx Health, with the aim of making healthcare more accessible and affordable.  

Why it's notable

Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company, launched in January 2022, aims to revolutionise the pharmacy model by transparently charging a standard markup of 15% plus the pharmacy fee, on every drug it sells. The online mail-delivery pharmacy carries over 1,000 generic prescription products. 

Binx Health shares this mission of increasing access to necessary care for all, and provides access to remote laboratory level testing for a range of common conditions including diabetes, heart disease and sexually transmitted infections, to patients who are uninsured or underinsured. The relationship with Binx Health creates an additional channel for Cost Plus Drugs to offer its low-cost medicines to patients in need. Binx Health customers can screen for health conditions conveniently, and then access necessary medications for their conditions through Cost Plus Drugs pharmacy at an affordable price. 

This collaboration aims to close a care gap in healthcare and medication access in the United States, which affects millions of people. Despite having the highest healthcare expenditure among OECD countries, the USA has some of the poorest health outcomes, including the highest death rate for avoidable or treatable conditions. Access to affordable healthcare is a major issue contributing to this.  This collaboration has potential to positively impact this trend through provision of critical diagnostic screening and necessary medicines for treatable conditions to a wider group of people. 

Industry Implications

There is a growing demand for transparency in healthcare. Policy makers are increasingly pushing for transparency in the USA, with the aim of driving down prices for patients. Cost Plus Drugs are not alone in tackling this issue. Amazon earlier this year, launched AmazonRx, which offers Amazon Prime members access to generic drugs for a flat fee of $5 a month, however it only includes 50 generic drugs currently and does not accept Medicare and Medicaid. With a growing customer base of more than 1.5 million, 1000 unique products available, and its continued expansion through partnerships such as with Binx Health, Cost Plus Drugs has potential to become a major disruptor in generic drug pricing.

Cost Plus Drugs’ model has the potential to facilitate considerable cost savings for Medicare and Medicaid programs if it continues to scale, by reducing the costs for the programs of covering generic drugs. A study showed potential cost savings of $650M to taxpayers by changing the way just one commonly prescribed drug was purchased. However, the implications for the pharmaceutical industry are yet to materialise. Cost Plus Drugs currently only sells generic drugs, while branded drugs account for the majority of pharmaceutical costs. It's unlikely to make a big impact on pharmaceutical sales currently. However the company plans to eventually expand to branded drugs in the future.